Wedding Blog
(this adorable cake was by Flour Girl Bakery, featured on Brides.com)
I have a sweet tooth. I love cake, cupcakes, ice cream, you name it! So, naturally, I thought picking a cake would be my favorite part of the planning process. Strangely, I’ve had a hard time getting into it. Perhaps it’s because a good cake can’t fully be captured by a picture. I mean, many cakes are truly beautiful and works of art, don’t get me wrong! But, the most important aspect of the cake (to me at least!) is how it tastes.
In my search for cake inspiration, here are some that have got me excited…
From my favorite baker (have I mentioned I’m addicted to the Food Network??), Colette Peters’ “Tear Drops & Pearls”:
This lovely cake by Kate Sullivan, “Boontje Nature Cake” was inspired by a china pattern (also the inspiration for Mrs. Plum’s cake!):
Also by Sullivan, here is a beautiful and delicate confection (”Blossoms Cake”):
To appease my inner-chocoholic, we have Cheryl Kleinman’s “Orange Crush”
Or maybe this scrumptious looking one by Montecito Confections (featured in Brides magazine):
For that reason, I’ve kind of wanted to steer away from fondant and instead have buttercream or maybe chocolate ganache covering the outside. In terms of fillings, Mr. Peppermint and I are undecided. He favors lighter, fruit filled options and while I like all cake, I definitely could enjoy a rich chocolate (mmmm!).
The caterer we picked (Le Vallauris) proposed doing a dessert sampler: We’ll have a smaller wedding “show” cake (3 tiers?) and serve it with a mini creme brulee, a small sorbet and a mini chocolate souffle, possibly. For this reason, I don’t think we have to worry about having an exotic cake flavor because there’s guaranteed to be something for everyone! One cake flavor they suggested was a chocolate cake with raspberry filling (mmmm…).
I’ll warn you: I’m putting the cart a tad before the horse (our tastings will be in a month), but I want to come up with some ideas (especially in terms of the look of the cake) to bring to the tasting. How did you find inspiration? Did you leave it to the baker or did you come with a strong idea of what you wanted?
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My aunt is baking my cake. I really wanted a big chocolate delicious rich cake with a real homemade look to it, but my ubertraditional fiance wanted white fondant! So we compromised, white buttercream with fondant autumn leaves.
As for the filling… we have yet to compromise there 
Those cakes are beautiful, especially the blossom one.
I saw that same top picture and was inspired! But then I was recently in a wedding and talked to the baker and she commented on how much fresher (and cheaper) cupcakes are… so now i’m torn. Do you think it would be possible to turn that ‘just married’ cake into a one/two tier cake with white and black iced cupcakes for everyone??
I went to the baker completely settled on a coconut cake because I love the way it looks with all the shaved coconut. When we got there, she had prepared the most amazing white cake with raspberry filling and buttercream icing! We ended up switching to that and covering it with white chocolate shavings to get the same effect as the coconut, but a broader flavor appeal. I can’t wait to see the final product!
I was all about fondant for probably the first 6-8 months of planning. I only looked at bakers who would do fondant, which meant the woman who does all the groom’s family’s special occassion cakes was immediately off my list.
Eventually, it occurred to me that every cake I’d ever had by her (and there were many) was moist and delicious in addition to being beautiful, and that’s what I wanted at the wedding! We brought her some photos of cakes we had liked, and she said “Oh, that’s easy. I can make buttercream look like that.”
We ended up getting a totally plain white cake, with ribbons and fresh rosebuds on the outside, and raspberry filling on the inside, and the chocolate-obsessed groom made a thick, dark sauce we served on the side. It was personal, it cost just over half of what the other bakers wanted for fondant, and it was absolutely delicious.
So, long story short, I pulled a 180 halfway through the planning, and I’m very glad I did.
There are some amazingly gorgeous cakes out there! I knew exactly what I wanted: the three-tiered cheesecake from Martha Stewart’s “Weddings” book that my mom made for my sisters’ wedding years ago. And I got it! It’s a lovely cake, the top of each layer is covered with an apricot glaze, and my mom piped icing in a decorative pattern around the edges to keep it in place. She then place blue ribbon around the tiers. On top was my birdcage topper, the pale colors of which went very well with the apricot and the pale blue ribbon. (It’s the same topper as Miss Radish’s–although I had mine first!) My mom built a low footed platform for the cake, under which she slipped the stems of ivory roses, so it looked like the cake was sitting on a bed of roses. It was a very beautiful cake, and extremely tasty, too. People had seconds. But that’s not all–the package from our hall included a cake, so instead of a second cake, we went with a tower of cupcakes! I knew what I wanted with them, also (I did run all this past my husband for his opinion first, of course.) The cupcakes were iced in ivory, pale blue, and pale yellow to match my wedding colors, each had a flower on top in one of the other colors, and was dusted with sparkling sugar. They were an assortment of chocolate, yellow, and carrot cakes. I also had a chocolate and strawberry groom’s cake made with a NY Giants theme for my husband.
So, in other words, we had a LOT of cake!
i’ve always wanted a viennese table (dessert buffet) instead of a cake, or perhaps a little cake, but definitely a whole lot of little desserts, petit fours, whatnot. i also pulled a 180 cuz now, we’re getting a 5 tier tall cake and we exchanged what would have been the 6th tier into a few mini eclairs, brownies and cheesecakes. not quite what i had in mind in the beginning, but it’ll do.
I completely agree with you Miss Peppermint. I looooooove moist (especially if it’s moist!) and I get more excited reading about cake flavors than seeing cake designs. =) Glad to know I’m not the only one who thinks that way.
i love love love the “just married” cake… it’s just so adorable… my 2nd choice is the blossoms cake…
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Miss Peppermint, LA/Palm Springs
Age and Occupation: 23, Actress
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Web Producer
Engagement Date: October 21, 2006
Wedding Date: December 2007
Blogging Since: July 2, 2007
Venue: historic estate overlooking the heart of Palm Springs
About Me: I am a Southern California native who enjoys cooking, writing, travel and all things in the arts. Mr. Peppermint and I met in college and he proposed on our four year anniversary in one of our most special places, Joshua Tree National Park. We're having a destination wedding in Palms Springs that will incorporate tradition as well as reflect our personalities!
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